Description

Climate change is the defining issue of the day and probably for many subsequent generations of resource managers. Although the public and therefore the policymakers have been slow in grasping the far-reaching consequences of climate change on our social and economic institutions, they are now desperately seeking options for dealing with novel climates, ecological uncertainties, and potential social and economic dislocations. The challenges cannot be overstated, but neither can the role of scientists in helping provide the knowledge for making informed decisions. The science of landscape ecology, with its emphasis on integration and holism, has an important role to play in informing decision makers. In this paper, I explore this role in the context of managing forest landscapes.